A Universe Imprisoned
by Priest-of-Gaia
Summary: Worlds at war with each other. With so much bickering, the worlds are not appreciating how their inhabitants are acting, so an attempt to purify it all breaks out. Unexpected allies will be forced to help each other in saving all that is left. SoraxRiku
1. Worlds That Hate

_**A Universe Imprisoned**_

**Chapter 1**

_Worlds That Hate_

Another alarm. Another escapee. Sora fell back onto his bed. It was made of straw and it was terribly uncomfortable. He sat in a small cell, similar to a prison. It had bars made from sturdy wood. Sora could not even figure out how they created such a natural cell with the materials. No metal, it was all naturally made, which is why the escape rate is so high. It is not to hard to get out, as Sora figured out. He, however, stopped trying. Escape was impossible. He knew that now. The guards were impenetrable and Sora could not fight back with the weapons they had.

Sora turned to face the wall as a guard passed by, hauling whoever was trying to escape back to their cell. Sora could not standing seeing the sight much longer. Whenever they caught you, they would pour some kind of acid down your arm in a thin line. It seeped into your skin and burned so intensely, sleep was impossible. Sora obtained his a week ago, and it still burned, though not as bad.

Sora heard the man screaming as they punished him. Then, the guard walked by again. Sora sneaked a look at him. He still could not figure out what they were. They were not human. And when they arrived, they erupted from the ground. Their faces were pale, their necks was made of wood. All were bald and their eyes were solid black. They moved slowly when they walked. They bobbed their heads from side to side as though hypnotized by something ahead of them. Their hands were made of rock, sharp rock that jutted out like swords. Their legs were thin and made of an assortment of twigs and leaves.

Another alarm. Wait. This one is different. It is faster and deeper. Sora sat up, studying it. Is something happening? One of the guards slinked by quickly this time, as though panicked. He screeched. It was how they communicated, Sora gathered. It sounded like a leaf was in their throats because every time they screeched, you could hear the sound being vibrated through something as though it was closing up the throat back and forth.

Sora still got chills from seeing them. Just thinking about what had happened before he arrived. Well, Riku was there too, but Sora had not seen him since he got put in this cell. But then, an explanation of what happened would clear some things up.

* * *

"Riku, can you believe Kairi? How could she even say that? I mean, seriously. She must be jealous or something," Sora said, falling back on the warm sand as the afternoon sun heated his face.

"Well, it isn't that weird," Riku stated.

"What? How can you say that isn't weird? She thinks I am gay!" Sora yelled. Riku sat down beside, trying to calm Sora down.

"Well, I guess it is because of how much we hang out. And maybe because you ditch her all the time to hang out with me, not that I am complaining about it," Riku said, running his hand through the sand.

"It's still crazy," Sora said more calmly. "I mean, it is not like we are going out," Sora said.

"Who?" Riku said, not paying much attention as he said it.

"Me and Kairi!" Sora yelled, raising up to eye his friend.

"Oh right," Riku said, continuing back to playing with the sand.

"Duh! I would not mean me and you going out, that would be...weird," Sora said.

"Hmm," Riku muttered.

"Anyway, what do you think about that war," Sora said changing the topic.

"Which one," Riku said.

"That is so said. These worlds are constantly fighting and we have so many wars that we have to name them to know which one," Sora said.

"Yeah. Well, it is not getting better. I hear Spira has joined in some bickering too," Riku said.

"Really? Will it really end? I mean what will actually stop it?" Sora asked.

"More violence, which means, it will never stop because that is the only way we know how to stop things these days," Riku said.

"SORA!" his mother was screaming from half across the beach. Sora looked at her. She was pointing to something in the air. It looked like a rain cloud, approaching fast. Suspiciously fast.

"Huh?" Riku muttered.

"What do you suppose that is. It seems a lot darker than a rain cloud," Sora said. His mother finally got close enough to tell them what she wanted to tell them.

"Sora! Something is wrong. The news is reporting that all of the worlds are beginning to have some kind of outbreak. Things are popping out of the ground and kidnapping people," she said through several deep pants.

"What?" Sora asked.

"They are saying it is similar to an apocalypse. The worlds want revenge. They are talking as though our planets are creating these monsters," she said looking up. The cloud now covered the entire sky.

"Oh my," Sora said.

"Perhaps this is what is intended to stop the wars. Annihilation of everyone," Riku said.

"Riku!" Sora panicked. Suddenly, screeches rang out from all directions. Then, a creature, clawed its way through the sand and stood eyeing them all.

"AHHH!" Sora screamed. They all ran, only to be blocked by another creature that climbed up just as fast. Sora's mother ran to a nearby palm tree and placed her back to it, holding her hands in fear. Two arms popped out of the tree and grabbed her.

"Sora!" Riku yelled as another creature crawled from the ground behind Sora and attached itself to him. Sora squirmed to get away. Riku did not have time to react, as he also met the same fate of being grabbed. The creature finally got Sora to stop wiggling. He looked around, the entire distance of Destiny Islands was captured in under a minute. Everyone was being held by a creature, and no one could escape. Sora whimpered under the tight squeeze of his captor.

Several screams indicated that they had found something that was making the situation worse. Sora found people staring up and when he did, he knew what the problem was. The clouds that so quickly formed, were releasing toxin in thick quantities to the ground. As it hit Sora, he felt light headed, then his vision was blurry and he felt like he had just stepped of a merry-go-round that was going a million miles per hour. Lastly, darkness.

* * *

That is when he woke up in this cell. So, Sora had no idea what was really going on. He tried to understand why they had not killed him yet. Why would they keep him locked up for a week? What were they planning? Was the world really intending to exterminate its inhabitants? Sora intended to find out in good time, because something was definately wrong. Explosions rung out down the hallways. And something very large was causing the walls to vibrate.

* * *

_Okay, this a pretty strange first chapter and it is short too. Tell me what you think, oh and expect twists and turns so drastic that you might question my intentions. And there might be pairings among later characters, granted people inform me of ones they would like to see from either Kindom Hearts or Final Fantasy...wink wink nudge nudge ( ;_


	2. Unexpected Allies

**Chapter 2**

_Unexpected Allies_

Another loud explosion, this time sending debris down the hallway. Sora stood up now, growing anxious to find out if what was happening was good or bad. Suddenly, Riku ran by, skimming all of the cells and almost not noticing Sora.

"Riku?" Sora called.

"Oh, there you are!" Riku cried. He was holding a piece of pipe, probably one that had fell off the ceiling or a wall. He easily broke through the cage and released Sora.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

"I don't know. Someone is firing at this place," he said quickly, pushing Sora in the direction he planned to escape from.

"Are they good?" Sora asked.

"I don't know Sora!" Riku snapped. "I mean, judging by the fact that the two places they hit were points farthest away from the cells, I think so." They turned a corner and saw one of the creatures ripping apart a man who was also escaping due to the confusion.

"Ahh-" Sora screamed, quickly being muffled by Riku who drug him back around the corner. It was too late. The creature heard them and was shuffling towards them.

"It heard us," Riku said, stating the obvious.

"Should we attack it?" Sora suggested. Riku looked at the wall ahead of them. It was vibrating. A loud propelling noise grew closer.

"I don't think we're gonna have to," Riku said. He grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him down the hall as the creature stopped to observe the vibration. A giant machine plowed through the wall, catching the creature in one of it's propellers. Riku was trying to pull Sora away, but Sora intently stared at the huge machine, examining what it could be.

"Come on!" Riku yelled. Sora finally complied. They ran down the confusing corridors that seemed like they were going nowhere.

"Riku? How the hell are we going to get out of here!" Sora yelled, becoming extremely nervous.

"I don't know, just keep running," he replied. As they ran down a much wider corridor, something was beginning to come out of the ground in mass quantities.

"Riku?" Sora said quietly.

"Is it-" Riku started, but his question was answered before he finished. The monsters erupted out of the ground and stood in two single filed lines. They stared at them.

"It must be one of the exits if they are guarding it this closely," Sora said.

"I don't think that helps us because we can't fight them," Riku said. "Run!" They both turned to sprint as the creatures made their first move. Riku had turned completely, but Sora looked over his shoulder. A sudden explosion of rock from the ceiling and a man dressed in a black cloak with sliver hair to his feet and a single wing from his back dropped to the ground. He pulled out the longest sword Sora had ever seen in his life and drove it through one of the lines, piercing all of them on that side. Sora stopped in shock.

The creatures on the other side turned to view the man and they began screeching in disgust. A second man fell from the ceiling, landing harder than the first. He had blonde spiky hair and carried a large, thick sword that looked impossible to carry. He swung at some of the monsters, driving them into the wall. The first man lifted a hand and sent some kind of magic at the remaining creatures turning them to ash.

"Are they here to save us?" Riku asked. Creatures sprouted from the wall now and jumped at the men who began fending them off back to back.

"Let's find another exit," Sora suggested, hoping that whatever monsters in this building would come here and would leave the others exits open.

They sprinted down what they thought was a different path. They turned the corner and met a door. Riku opened it and stepped inside, holding the door for Sora.

"Thanks," Sora said, appreciating his manners, even at a time like this. This room looked like a cafeteria.

"I don't know if this is going to lead out of here," Riku said.

"What's that?" Sora asked, pointing to a large circle in the middle of the room that was rising up and down, as though taking in breathes.

"I don't-" The circle now rose up to growl. It resembled the same creatures except this one was rose to nearly touch the ceiling which was about three stories tall.

"Umm..." Sora stuttered. The door closed behind them.

"Excuse me," a man said. He had darker silver hair and wore black, but the strange thing about him was his red, flaring eyes. He jumped all the way up to the creatures head and pulled a spear from nowhere, slicing through its thick skin. Smaller creatures began forming off this larger one and dropping to the ground, waiting for the man to come down. The sound footsteps came behind them once again. This time, a pale woman in a large black dress, held together with several belts at the bottom with fur trimming at the sleeves, on the chest, and on the bottom. She held a doll with a orange nose and X's for eyes. A type of antennae grew from the head and had a red ball at the end.

"You know, we aren't doing this to entertain you, you could help," she said with calm, enchanting voice.

"We don't have weapons," Sora protested. She reached behind her and pulled out two small swords and handed them over, keeping her doll close to her at all times.

"Thanks," Riku said.

"Don't mention it," she said passing them, holding her hand up in the air. As she did, her doll mimicked her. Lighting started to shoot down at the monsters. As some began approaching them, they held their new swords at a ready position. Three monsters charged at them. Riku made quick work of two, cutting them into submission. Sora had trouble hitting his, as it evaded quickly. It tried spraying acid at him, but sudden burst of water knocked it from its path.

The woman smiled as she sent a lightning bolt at the creature. The man was now attaching some kind of hitch to locations on the large creature. When he finished, he fed a cable through each one. He then grabbed both ends and pulled with so much force, it severed the creature in several locations. A creature popped out of the wall and tackled the woman. She dropped her doll and it rolled a bit before stopping itself. As the woman tried to stand, the creature landed on her, hissing violently. The doll waddled over and kicked it in the leg, providing no help whatsoever, but trying desperately to help it's master. Sora ran over and drove his blade through it's head.

"Thank you," she said, standing up and brushing herself off. The doll hugged Sora's leg. "My moogle seems grateful as well." She outstretched a hand and it jumped up to her, returning to it's rightful place.

"Sora," Riku called, noticing another large creature coming from the wall.

"You two should go, now. Head out and make two lefts and two rights. Look for a hole in the wall. Go," she said.

They followed her advice, quickly leaving. They made the correct turns and found the hole. As they approached it, a creature popped up and blocked their way. They stood, ready to attack with their swords, before an arm appeared from behind the wall, holding a gun to it's head. It grew limp as it prepared to be shot.

Before the gun shot, a woman from the other side with short sliver hair, wearing a back outfit with boots with large heels, came up to the creature and violently twisted the creatures head around with a uncomfortable snapping sound. Sora twitched.

"Paine!" the woman holding the gun cried.

"You take too long," Paine stated bluntly. "You two seen a girl named Riku? Blonde hair, skimpy outfit, kind of insane." They shook their heads.

"Paine, she is not here. I told you to let it go. She didn't make it okay. Why are making this harder on me?" the girl said, revealing herself. She wore a whit shirt with a strange symbol in the center and half of a blue and white skirt that tied around her shorts. She had tall boots that were laced to the top.

"Because she isn't dead Yuna," Paine stated.

"Look, can you get us out of here?" Riku asked.

"Yes," Yuna stated.

"No," Paine stated at the same time.

"Paine! Of course you can. We are here to help," Yuna said, guiding outside through the debris. The giant machine that they witnessed crash through the wall was sitting outside. These people had set up a small camp as they battled their way through the compound.

"We will be leaving shortly. I appears our little run in with guns blazing idea failed terribly. Only four people survived including you two," Yuna told them.

"Yuna! Let's go!" a familiar voice yelled. It was the woman with the strange doll.

"Oh no," Yuna said. The rest of the people that were fighting inside were now rushing out. The only one Sora did not recognize was a man with a strange sword combined into a gun.

"Cid set another damn explosive, the man with spiky blonde hair said angrily. The man he spoke off was now charging out. Everyone was boarding now. Sora and Riku followed everyone to the spacious cockpit. The machine began to start up. The man named Cid walked in laughing.

"Damn I'm glad I found those explosives," he said happily, helping with the lift off.

"What is your obsession with blowing every thing up!" Yuna yelled.

They took off quickly and you could the vibrations of the explosion. Sora suddenly thought off what Yuna had told him. Two other people made it. He looked around for someone else belonging to Destiny Islands. He found them. Neither of them was his mother. He sat on the ground. His mother had been killed. And he was now traveling on board with some kind of lunatic freedom fighters. All he had left was Riku.

* * *

Please review! The more reviews, the faster I will update!!! Much will be explained in the next chapter. Oh, and Vincent's arrival will come, and Vincent is good people. Expect lots of death people. No one is safe. 


	3. Recruited

**_Since Sora's Keyblade does not have a particular significance to this story, he won't have it. I don't have any heartless or anything in here so there is no actual relevance for it. And as you may have noticed, people like Cloud and such do not know Sora so technically I am not branching off were either game left off. I apoligize not putting this before since this is kind of important stuff I should have mentioned...hehe... Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you _athiest_ for reminding me to mention stuff about the keyblade, and for helping me decide which location to go first._****

* * *

**

**Chapter 3**

_Recruited_

Sora found himself waking up on Riku's shoulder. He gasped, and pulled away, feeling extremely awkward. He looked ahead of him to find the man holding the strange gunblade.

"What?" Sora asked defensively.

"Nothing," he responded. A couple of seconds of him still staring before Sora started to get irritated.

"What are you staring at?" he yelled.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Sora," he said angrily.

"Then I am staring at Sora," he said smiling. Riku shifted a bit, then opened his eyes.

"Wow. My back hurts," he said, not realizing that the man was staring at him now. "What?"

"Nothing," he responded the same way he did to Sora.

"What are you staring at?" Riku asked.

"Who are you?" he asked. Sora rolled his eyes in disbelief that he was doing the same thing to Riku.

"Who the hell are you?" Sora asked.

"Leon. Now that you are both done cuddling I can brief you on your mission," he said.

"Woah! Wait a minute! Mission?" Sora asked.

"What do you mean? We aren't some kind of soldiers," Riku said.

"Maybe not, but you didn't think we saved your butts from that place to let you sit here and watch _us_ fix this problem. Everyone is doing their fair share, including you," Leon stated.

"I'm afraid he is right," the man with blonde, spiky hair said as he walked in.

"Ah, Cloud, perhaps you would like to inform them of their duties, since you will be with them. I have to prepare," Leon said.

"Sure," he said softly. "I know this is going to be asking a lot, but I am afraid we all have lost so much that we have to ask you to help us. Not one person here has not lost their hometown or someone they cared for." Sora thought about his mom. Then he recalled how angry he was at Kairi, but he still sort of missed her.

"I understand," Riku said.

"Good. So many people are lost, or have been killed that we need everyone to help fight back what we have worked hard to keep. Everyone has stopped their rebellions and finally pulled together." The tall man with long, flowing silver hair walked in. "Regardless of how difficult it may be." He directed his comment to the silver-haired man.

"What do you want us to do? Where are we going?" Sora asked.

"We are going to Disney Castle. We hope to find the king or the queen-" Cloud stated.

"Alive preferably," the other man said. Cloud shot him an evil look.

"We know he had been incredibly busy for this past year as the worlds finally came to find each other which resulted in all this war. We are hoping he was not around when the attacks happened. Now, when we land, we all will stay together until we get to the castle. Sephiroth and I will search for the king. You two need to find the Queen's chambers and search for her. Look for messages dated from yesterday about whereabouts of the king. Also, though this goes without saying, look for any survivors and protect them at all cost. One man in particular we are looking for. He can take care of himself, but he has not called back to us in awhile so we are afraid he may be captured," Cloud said as he glanced over his shoulder to see a screen reading a foreign language. "That damn Al Bhed again! I can't read this shit!"

"Relax," Yuna said coming in. "You all need to get on deck. We are doing a quick drop off and you know Cid isn't going to let you take your sweet time stepping off." Riku stood up and offered his hand to help Sora up. Leon walked in as this was happening and gave him another look. Sora ignored the hand and stood up on his own.

"Let's go," the man called Sephiroth said, pulling them both rather hard to the door that opened automatically. They walked down a hallway packed with the people from yesterday. The strange moogle sprinted down the hallway as the man called Cid chased it.

"Dammit Lulu, keep that thing away from me!" he yelled. "It is snooping around my stuff!" Lulu came out and caught the moogle as it jumped, then turned to walk away. Sora laughed. "What the hell do you think is so damn funny!"

"Enough!" Paine cried. "Will you shut the hell up."

"Who the hell are you to me what to do!" Cid shouted as they stepped up on the deck. Sora could tell how well the relationships here were. These people were obviously very different.

"Okay, get ready," Cloud said, opening the hatch to the outside, sending a powerful air current at them. Sora took out his sword, ready for anything. They walked out and as the ship landed, they jumped off. Yuna was right. No sooner did they jump off, the ship took off full speed.

"Cloud?" Sephiroth asked.

"Hmm?" he responded.

"Does that look like some kind of lock down?" he asked. They all stared at the castle ahead of them. Every window and door was barricaded with metal. It looked impossible to get through.

"Perhaps everyone is safe inside?" Sora suggested.

"No," Cloud said. "If that were the case, my friend would have contacted me by now."

"Are suggesting that the creatures got inside before they activated the lock down?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yes," Cloud said, observing the area.

"Well, how do we get in?" Riku asked, putting his sword away.

"I'm not sure. I don't think we can get around the mechanism. You think we could pry open?" Cloud asked.

"Maybe," Sephiroth said, unsheathing his intimidating long sword. They walked together up to the main door of the castle. Sephiroth slid and pushed his sword under the door and waited for cloud to do the same.

"Mine is not going to fit under that," Cloud said. "And their swords are to flimsy. Lift it up a bit until I can get mine under." Sephiroth pushed down, levering his sword to pry the door upwards. He exerted a lot of strength and eventually the door started to come open. He continued until Cloud was able to place his sword in. They both pushed hard and achieved a small amount of opening.

"It won't go any farther," Could said.

"Damn! You two go under," Sephiroth said.

"What? No, you have no idea what could be in there!" Cloud protested at their safety.

"There is no other way. Go in and find the switch to shut off the defense system. Then we will come in. It should be near the king's throne," Sephiroth said through immense struggle. Sora rolled under the door without a seconds thought. Riku did the same. Then, the door slid shut with a loud bang that probably alerted every living thing in the building.

"Oh great," Sora muttered.

"Oh no," Riku said, pointing to a room. Sora walked up to see what Riku saw. The room was full of dead people who were massacred. Whoever activated the barricades pretty much locked these people in to be slaughtered. Are we so sure it was used as a defense?" Sora asked.

"I'm guessing not," Riku said. They heard something shuffle. "Get down." They collapsed on the ground, not moving. Sora wondered if the creature would fall for it. It stared at them for a minute, then approached. When it reached them, it began making sniffing noises. Sora noticed Riku nod, giving him a signal. They both raised up and double sliced the creature, cutting it into three pieces.

"Whew!" Sora gasped.

"So these creatures are surviving just fine in here," Riku stated.

"Let's hurry up," Sora said. They raced up a large flight of steps into a room that held several statues. They made a right and traveled down a dark hallway. They stopped at giant, blue double doors.

"Is this the throne room?" Riku asked.

"I guess," Sora asked, yanking the door open. Something hissed and he slammed it shut. Him and Riku got on opposite sides of the door as it opened. Five creatures charged out like bulls, not noticing them. They surprised them from behind and cut through them all with ease. Afterwards, they entered the throne room.

"Holy shit that is a long way to walk to your own chair. Screw being a king and making that walk every morning," Sora said.

"Agreed," Riku said. They made the long walk to the chair and studied the area.

"A switch. Is this what we are looking for. It isn't labeled, of course. It could be anything."

"Well, let's trust the king would not have a self-destruct switch to his own castle so open," Riku said. Sora pulled it and the sound of several things sliding open echoed throughout the castle.

"Okay then. Now to find-" Sora started before being tackled by a monster. Sora dropped his sword and tried to keep the creatures face from his. Riku started to help but was thrown across the room like a cannon being fired. Sora wiggled free and ran to Riku. They turned to see that the creature had picked up his sword.

"What's he doing?" Riku asked. The creature lifted his arm back as though prepared to throw it.

"Is he going to throw it?" Sora yelled nervously. The other monster simply watched. Then, a red cape flew down behind it and took form as a man with black hair, a pale face, a red torn cloak, and a robotic looking claw. He was holding a large three barreled pistol in his opposite hand. As the creature began to throw the sword, the man grabbed it at the end and simply held it. The creature turned to see the problem and tried desperately to yank it from him. The other one began to attack him, but the man simply raised his gun and blew it's head clear off. The creature still attempted to pull the sword from the man's grip. The man pulled the creature forward and brought up his knee onto it's stomach. He then held the end of the sword near it's neck, standing behind him in such away that when the creature instinctively yanked at it this time, it cut it's own in neck.

"Wow! That was awesome! Are you the friend Cloud is looking for?" Sora asked.

"I'm Vincent. You are?" he asked in a deep calm voice as though what he just did was part of a daily routine, then again, for all Sora knew, it might have been.

"Sora!"

"Riku. How did you survive so long in here? Is there food or water?" Riku asked.

"I gone without that stuff longer than a week, trust me," Vincent said. "Is Cloud outside?"

"Yep!" Sora responded.

"Are you supposed to be working on something?" he asked.

"Uh-huh! We are looking for the queen," Sora said brightly.

"Well, most of her remains are near the rug in her room, but feel free to find her head if you want all of the pieces," he said normally.

"What?" Sora said, spiraling down from being cheerful.

"She is dead?" Riku asked.

"I did what I could for these people, but at the rate this things were appearing from the ground it was impossible. Then we all got locked in and I had no idea how to get the barricades up. And it isn't like I could ask anyone. Their bodies were spread around this castle like a puzzle, and a difficult one I might add," Vincent said, scaring Sora into thinking he may have attempted such a thing.

"How awful," Riku said.

"If you are looking for the king, he never returned. Nor is there clues to his location," Vincent stated.

"Then I guess we should leave," Sora said. A sudden high pitched screech rang out from outside.

"Hmm," Vincent hummed. Sora and Riku stared out a window and seen some kind of demonic looking bird fly by. It had no feathers, just what looked like burnt skin and a huge mouth with several layers of teeth.

"Should we-" Sora said spinning around to find Vincent was gone.

"Let's get out of here," Riku said. They ran out the way they came in and followed the same path they used to get to the throne room. They exited the castle and found the bird was spraying out acid at Cloud who narrowly avoided it. Sephiroth was scaling it's back, slicing up and down with his sword. A red blur seemed to flash through the sky, then Vincent seemed to simply float in mid-air as he shot continuously at the eyes of the creature. It's eyes grew blood shot and then exploded.

"It's blind!" Cloud shouted. As it flew low, Cloud jumped and sent and powerful slash through it's underside. The bird screeched and unexpectedly turned upside down and flew straight to the ground causing Sephiroth to violently hit the ground. It then spiraled into the air, turned to and fell to the ground at Sephiroth. It's mouth was open as it fell to it's death and Sephiroth got caught in it on impact. With the amount of teeth in it's mouth, Sora doubted his survival, but it was the bird's final move that made sure Sephiroth was dead. It closed it's jaw, making a crunch that made everyone but Vincent cringe.

"Sephiroth," Cloud said. Sora did not think they were good friend, but Cloud definitely had set that aside.

The air ship could be heard from the distance. Sora felt an uncomfortable twist in his stomach. This was not over. There would be more trials, and probably more death. He looked at Riku, feeling childish for the way he acted this morning. What is that had been Riku who died? He looked at Riku, his feelings becoming mixed as he realized how much he cared for Riku. But then, that was because they were such good friends. Nothing more.


	4. Purify

**Kinda short because I typed it all in one class, but I hope it is not rushed. I might have the next chapter done today too!**

**Chapter 4**

_Purify_

Upon boarding the air ship, Cloud walked with his head down. Sora could tell that Sephiroth was an experienced fighter, and to die that way did not do him much justice.

No one really paid much attention to them as they boarded. Some welcomed Vincent, but everyone seemed busy colloecting information they retrieved.

"Sephiroth was killed," Cloud said in a loud clear voice, slicing through the chatter like a knife.

"Dead?" Cid asked, almost sypathetically, but not much. Yuna stood forward.

"This is a hard lesson everyone, but it just goes to show that we all are in danger, regardless of skill. These things are starting to understand and adapt to our attacks. We can't get overconfident. And we can't waste time looking for people who are probably already dead," Yuna said, shooting a spiteful glare at Paine. "We must stay on task. We will all go to Traverse Town and rest up. That is, after we clear it up-"

"Clear it up?" Paine asked suspiciously.

"Yes. Cid has developed a device that will completely eliminate these creatures with a powerful toxin-" Yuna explained as Cid stood proudly at his accomplshment. Riku gave Sora a look of confusion at this plan.

"That's sychotic! What about survivors?" Paine asked.

"Did you not hear the woman! No survivors! There is no way! We aren't a search and rescue team. We got enough damn trouble saving ourselves. Our plans have changed. We are going to have to simply clear out the worlds one by one with and means necassary!" Cid yelled.

"That makes no sense! That is what the world's want. To rid everyone from their grounds. Now you want to turn on our own people and vanquish them with these creatures?" Paine yelled, clenching her fists tightly.

"Was it not you who so brutally fought in Sprira's war to kill people who simply supplied the enemy. Now you suddenly want to save them. What Paine? Has your conscious got you? You feel you have a debt to pay?" Yuna asked stepping up to Paine's face.

"Yuna," Lulu stepped forward to stop them. "Please, this is a matter that everyone should have a say in. We have to think of the risks, but we also must consider the benefits, no matter how hard it is. We all have lost people, or are still looking. Do not take it upon yourself to assume you are the only one who is looking."

"Wakka?" Paine said.

"Enough!" Yuna cried. We will accomplish nothing by looking-" Yuna yelled.

"Yuna, just because you watched Tidus die, does not mean everyone should give up hope for friends!" Paine said.

"She is right Yuna," Lulu said, taking her in her arms to comfort her in a sisterly way.

"Well, to Traverse Town then. With or without the toxin?" Cid asked. Yuna looked at everyone and decided.

"Without," she said.

Everyone cleared out of the room. People were silent. Lulu stayed.

"I don't understand how someone could be that cold," Riku said.

"You mean Yuna?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. I mean, that is careless isn't it?" Riku asked. Lulu looked over at him.

"You must understand her position. She has been through so much in her life, losing everone she loves one after the other. She used to be talked into saving anyone and everone from every situation. Now she simply feels that no matter how much she works to save other people, no one is aiding her in helping the people she loves. She lost her husband, Tidus. She tried to save him, but it was impossible alone. No one was there for her. Everyone had already been killed or captured," Lulu said.

"It makes sense that way, but still," Riku said.

"How is are the worlds reacting to the wars? How can they feel what is happening? And why are they purifying themselves because of it?" Sora asked. Lulu sat in a chair, rubbing her forehead.

"This really can't be explained. I mean, if you think about it, if you had a hotel, and you let people stay for free, but then they took advantage. They fought, they stole, they bickered, would you let them stay?" she asked.

"No," Sora said.

"This is what the situation is. Mother Nature is done giving people the gift of life on her worlds. She wants revenge and is going to show people why they should not deface her lands," Lulu explained.

"It seems like it is too much. Not everyone is to blame," Sora said.

"No, but that is life. You must deal with the mistakes of others sometimes. Don't worry. We will adjust, as we often do, and sort it out. Just keep your friends close," she said, eyeing Riku with a smile. She stood up and walked out of the room.

"So much for dwelling in the past I suppose," Riku said.

"Riku, do you think anyone else on Destiny Islands lived. I mean, maybe their are other air ships with survivors," Sora said.

"I would not count on it, but maybe," Riku said, looking Sora in the eyes.

**_Riku's Thoughts_**

_How can he be so concerned with other people's problems. How is he not concerned about me. I am concerned about him. Look at those eyes. He is so sweet. God, he is adorable. I can't concentrate on anything. Why must he pull away. What is their to be embarrased about. These people don't care. Kairi isn't here being a bitch, so what the hell is wrong with him. Ohh, he is stretching. I love it when he strecthes, and lets out that sexy groan and his shirt comes up a bit revealing his soft, tan skin. If I could just let him know. Hint at how I like him. I mean, isn't obvious! hasn't he figured it out by now. He has to know why I am staring at him like this!_

**_Sora's Thoughts_**

_I wonder why Riku is staring at me like that. He seems different. Actually, now that I think of it, he is exactly the same. He still talks to me like we are on the islands, so friendly and nice. I wonder why? It is weird that he is handling this so well. What is keeping him so calm. I feel awkward around him sometimes, not that I don't like being around him. I definitely do! Something about our relationship is different though. Maybe I am missing something._


End file.
